JPH04251753A - Ink-jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a low-cost ink-jet printer, in which the number of parts is decreased and the drive of a priming device is not constrained. CONSTITUTION:A clutch gear 3, over which the driving force of a motor 2 for driving a platen is transmitted, a holding member 4 holding the clutch gear, a first wheel train 5 connecting the clutch gear and the platen 7, and a second wheel train 6 coupling the clutch gear and a priming device 8 are provided. The clutch gear is moved to a first position, where the clutch gear 3 is held under the state of the transmission of driving force to the second wheel train 6 through the operation of the holding member 4, and a second position, where the clutch gear is held under the non-transmission of driving force to said second wheel train.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet printer equipped with a priming device whose driving source is a platen driving motor.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a priming device in an inkjet printer performs functions such as purging and capping, but the first method for driving this priming device is to install an actuator such as a dedicated DC motor. The second type uses a paper feed motor as a drive source and uses the movement of a carrier on which a print head is mounted to mesh a partially toothed gear with a priming gear to drive a priming device at the carrier's home position. It had been proposed.

0003

According to the former example, since a dedicated actuator is used, the number of parts increases, resulting in high cost. In the latter example, when the carrier comes to the home position, the partially toothed gear meshes with the priming gear, and the priming operation is performed during one rotation of the partially toothed gear. There are restrictions on the priming operation, such as the inability to drive.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printer with a small number of parts, low cost, and in which the driving of a priming device is not restricted.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The inkjet printer of the present invention includes a print head, a platen driving motor, a clutch gear to which the driving force of the motor is transmitted, and a clutch gear that holds the clutch gear and is connected to the clutch gear. It has a holding member for controlling switching, a first wheel train that connects the clutch gear and the platen, and a second wheel train that connects the clutch gear and a priming device. The holding member holds the clutch gear to the second
The clutch gear is movable between a first position where the clutch gear is maintained in a state where driving force is transmitted to the wheel train and a second position where the clutch gear is maintained in a state where driving force is not transmitted to the second wheel train.

[0006] When printing on continuous paper, the clutch gear is activated only when the holding member is in the second position.
It is preferable that driving force can be transmitted to the first wheel train.

Further, in order to avoid increasing the number of parts, the holding member is located at the second position when the print head is in the print area, and when the print head is at the home position, the holding member is located at the second position. Alternatively, the print head may be moved to the first position by engagement with a portion of the carrier on which the print head is mounted.

Alternatively, the operation of the holding member is separated from the printing operation by having an independent driving means for moving the holding member between the first position and the second position of the clutch gear. It is also possible to do it freely.

[0009]

[Operation] The holding member has a first position in which the clutch gear is kept in a driving force transmission state to the second wheel train, and a second position in which the clutch gear is kept in a driving force non-transmitted state to the second wheel train. The priming operation can be performed independently of the operation of the platen.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. ◆The inkjet printer in this example includes a print head 1, a platen driving motor 2, a clutch gear 3 to which the driving force of this motor is transmitted, a holding member 4 holding this clutch gear, and the clutch gear mentioned above. The first wheel train 5 connects the clutch gear and the platen 7, and the second wheel train 6 connects the clutch gear and the priming device 8.

The print head 1 is mounted on a carrier 9, and an ink cartridge 10 is removably mounted on the carrier. The print head 1 has a guide shaft 11
It is movable in the axial direction. When the carrier 9 is at the home position shown in FIG.
Detected by 2.

The driving force of the motor 2 is transmitted to the clutch gear 3 via a wheel train 13 and a drive gear 14, which are transmission means. The drive gear 14 is attached to a shaft 15 .

A paper feed gear 16 and a priming gear 17, which are coaxial with the drive gear 14, can mesh with the clutch gear 3, respectively. The paper feed gear 16 connects the clutch gear 3 and the platen 7 together with the first wheel train 5, and transmits the driving force of the motor 2 to the platen. The priming gear 17 connects the clutch gear 3 together with the second wheel train 6 and the pump 8a, wiper 8b, and cap 8c that constitute the priming device 8.
The driving force of the motor 2 is transmitted to the plumbing device 8.

Clutch gear 3 is rotatably supported on shaft 18. A bearing portion 4a of the holding member 4 is supported on the shaft 18 so as to be movable in the axial direction, and a stopper 19 is provided at the end of the shaft to restrict movement of the holding member to the right in FIG. A compression spring 20 is wound around the shaft 18 between the clutch gear 3 and the right bearing portion 4a of the holding member 4, and constantly presses the clutch gear 3 to the left in FIG.

A long hole 4b is formed in the base of the holding member 4, and an engagement pin 22 protruding from the upper surface of one end of the lever 21 is slidably positioned in the long hole. Lever 21
is formed in an L-shape, and is rotatably supported by a shaft 23 at its bent portion. A tension spring 24 applies a spring force clockwise about a shaft 23 to the end of the lever 21 on the engagement pin 22 side. The other end of the lever 21 is provided with an engaging portion 21a. This engaging part is the guide shaft 1
A cam portion 9a provided on a carrier 9 which is capable of moving 1
It is possible to come into contact with and separate from it. When the carrier 9 is at the home position shown in FIG. 1, the cam portion 9a engages with the engaging portion 21a, and when it is at the print area position shown in FIG. 2, it is separated.

To explain the relationship between the holding member 4 and the clutch gear 3, the holding member 4 drives the clutch gear with respect to the second wheel train 6 when the print head 1 is at the home position as shown in FIG. moving it to a first position where it remains in a force transmitting state;
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, when the print head 1 is in the print area, the clutch gear is movable to the second position where the driving force is not transmitted to the second wheel train. In this way, the holding member 4 moves the clutch gear 3 between the first position and the second position.

Next, the operation will be explained. ◆When the print head 1 is in the print area as shown in FIG.
Since the engagement with the engaging portion 9a is released, the holding member 4 moves the clutch gear 3 to the right via the lever 21 due to the spring force of the spring 24, so that the clutch gear 3 moves between the driving gear 14 and the paper. The clutch gear meshes with the feed gear 16 and does not mesh with the priming gear 17, and is in a second position where the clutch gear is maintained in a state in which no driving force is transmitted to the second wheel train 6. In this state, only the platen 7 is operated by the drive of the motor 2, and the paper is fed. When printing is finished and the print head 1 is returning to the home position shown in FIG.
, so that the lever 21 rotates counterclockwise against the spring 24 and thus the clutch gear 3
moves to the left, disengages from the paper feed gear 16, and now engages the drive gear 14 and the priming gear 17,
The clutch gear is switched to the first position in which it maintains the driving force transmission state to the second wheel train 6. Therefore, when the carrier 9 is at the home position, only the priming device 8 is operated by the drive of the motor 2, and priming operations such as suction by the pump 8a, cleaning by the wiper 8b, and capping by the cap 8c are performed. With this configuration, paper is not fed during priming, so paper does not need to be wasted when printing on continuous paper.

A second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. ◆In this example, one end 30a of the main body of the clutch gear 30 is cut vertically, and the paper feed gear 31 always meshes with the clutch gear 30 regardless of the first position or the second position of the clutch gear 30. On the other hand, the priming gear 33 does not mesh with the clutch gear 30 when the print head is in the printing area (clutch gear 30 is in the second position) and does not mesh with the clutch gear 30 when the print head is in the first position. It uses an interlocking configuration. The other configurations are substantially the same as the above example. 32 is a holding member, 35 is a first gear train, 36
is a second wheel train, and the driving force of the motor 34 is transmitted to the drive gear 37 through the wheel train 38.

According to this example, since the clutch gear 30 and the paper feed gear 31 are always connected by the first wheel train 35, the paper feed accuracy is better than in the above example. Note that this configuration is suitable for printing on cut paper because paper is fed simultaneously during priming.

In the third embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, switching between the first wheel train 40 and the second wheel train 41 is performed by a lever-shaped holding member 43 that is driven by a carrier 42. In the third embodiment shown in FIGS. The holding member 43 is rotatably attached to the shaft 46,
A clutch gear 50 is attached to its tip via a pin 51. A drive gear 47 is provided on the shaft 46 coaxially with the holding member 43, and always meshes with the clutch gear 50. The driving force of the motor 44 is transferred from the wheel train 45 to the drive gear 4.
7. A paper feed gear 48 connected to the first wheel train 40 and a priming gear 49 connected to the second wheel train 41 are arranged near the drive gear 47 . The clutch gear 50 is located between the paper feed gear 48 and the priming gear 49 so that it can selectively mesh with both of these gears. A spring 52 is latched to the rear end of the holding member 43. The holding member 43 is regulated by a stopper pin 53, and the spring force of the spring 52 always applies a spring force in a counterclockwise direction about the axis. An engaging portion 43a formed at the rear end of the holding member 43 can engage with a cam portion 42a of the carrier 42 that allows the guide shaft 54 to move.

When the carrier 42 is at the home position shown in FIG. , and a priming operation is performed. Further, when the carrier 42 is in the printing area shown in FIG. This causes the clutch gear 50 to separate from the priming gear 49,
It meshes with the paper feed gear 48 and performs a paper feed operation.

A fourth embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. ◆This example differs from the example in FIG. 1 in that the holding member 60 is provided with an independent drive means for moving the clutch gear 61 between its first and second positions. . In this example, a solenoid 62 is used as the driving means. The actuating plate 62a of the solenoid 62 is engaged with a pin 64 protruding from the upper surface of the rear end of the lever 63 that actuates the holding member 60. As the actuating plate 62a moves forward and backward, the lever 63 rotating around the shaft 65 moves the clutch gear 61 through the holding member 60, so that the clutch gear and the paper feed gear 66 are engaged or the priming gear 67 is engaged. It is possible to switch the meshing state of the The driving force of a motor 69 is transmitted via a wheel train 70 to a drive gear 68 that is always in mesh with the clutch gear 61 . 7
1 is a first wheel train, and 72 is a second wheel train.

In the above configuration, when performing the priming operation, the holding member 60 moves the clutch gear 61 to the priming gear 67 by energizing the solenoid 62 and retracting the solenoid operating plate 62a as shown in FIG. Thus, the driving force of the motor 69 is transmitted to the second wheel train 72, and a priming device (not shown) is activated.

When performing paper feeding operation, the solenoid 6
By moving the second actuating plate 62a forward as shown in FIG. The information is transmitted and the paper is fed. At this time, the priming gear 67 is disengaged from the clutch gear 61, so the driving force of the motor 69 is not transmitted to the second wheel train 72.

[0025]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the movement of the clutch gear allows the
Since priming operation can be performed, there is no need to use a dedicated actuator for priming operation as in the past.
The number of parts can be reduced, manufacturing costs can be reduced, and there are no restrictions on the priming operation.

Furthermore, if the holding member is configured to follow the movement of the print head or the carrier on which the print head is mounted, the number of parts can be further reduced.

Furthermore, if the holding member is movable by an independent driving means, the operation of the holding member can be freely separated from the printing operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment, with a clutch gear in a first position.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the main parts of the first embodiment, with the clutch gear in a second position.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the main parts of the second embodiment, with the clutch gear in the first position.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the main parts of the third embodiment, with the clutch gear in the first position.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the main parts of the third embodiment, with the clutch gear in the second position.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the main parts of the fourth embodiment, with the clutch gear in the first position.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the main parts of the fourth embodiment, with the clutch gear in the second position.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Print head 2　　　Platen drive motor 3 Clutch gear 4 Holding member 5 1st gear train 6 Second wheel train 7 Platen 8 Priming device 9　　　　Career 16 Paper feed gear 17 Priming gear 30 Clutch gear 31 Paper feed gear 32 Holding member 33 Priming gear 34 Platen drive motor 35 1st gear train 36 2nd gear train 40 1st gear train 41 2nd gear train 42 Career 43 Holding member 44 Platen drive motor 48 Priming gear 49 Paper feed gear 50 Clutch gear 60 Holding member 61 Clutch gear 62 Driving means (solenoid) 66 Paper feed gear 67 Priming gear 69 Platen drive motor 70 1st gear train 71 2nd gear train

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A print head, a platen driving motor, and a clutch gear to which the driving force of the motor is transmitted.
The holding member has a holding member that holds the clutch gear, a first wheel train that connects the clutch gear and a platen, and a second wheel train that connects the clutch gear and a priming device. , between a first position in which the clutch gear is kept in a driving force transmission state with respect to the second wheel train, and a second position in which the clutch gear is kept in a driving force non-transmission state with respect to the second wheel train. An inkjet printer characterized by being movable. [Claim 2] In Claim 1, the clutch gear is:
An inkjet printer characterized in that driving force can be transmitted to the first wheel train only when the holding member is in the second position. 3. In claim 1 or claim 2, the holding member is in the second position when the print head is in the print area, and holds the print head or the print head when the print head is in the home position. An inkjet printer characterized in that the inkjet printer is moved to a first position by engaging with a portion of a carrier mounted thereon. 4. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, further comprising independent driving means for moving the holding member between the first position and the second position.